So, I had exciting news this week! Agent J pitched my manuscript Strange Academy to a fantastic list of New York editors and so far, four out of five of them said they want to read it. (I’m sure the other one will pull up his/her socks soon.) Man, I’d love to know about that book before Christmas!
Just two weeks ago at this moment, I was driving back from New Jersey Romance Writers’ Put Your Heart in a Book Conference, where I presented “Writing the Rock and Roll Regency” with Sharon Page. Considering we were on at the same time as Jennifer Crusie’s workshop and Madeline Hunter’s, I think we were lucky to get the eight people who turned out. And since it was my first workshop in front of strangers, I didn’t mind the smaller crowd.
The weekend was fantastic. Those New Jersey women sure know how to put on a conference. (But if you’re listening, karaoke is never a good idea. Repeat: karaoke is never a good idea.)
Weekend highlights:
Driving down and up with Sharon Page and Tammy Plunkett (two smart and fun women who kept me awake and entertained during the eight hour trip. Sharon is not so great at 6:30am, but perks up over the course of the day. Tammy and I are both morning people.). I got honked at four times, though I didn’t pull any dumb moves. This is a personal record for me.
Madeline Hunter’s Surviving Almost There workshop. Fantastic just to talk about the dangers of being almost published. She’s the second person I’ve heard say the risk of quitting goes up when you’re ‘almost there.’
Jennifer Crusie knows what is wrong with your book and isn’t afraid to tell you.
Susan Meier knows many, many things.
Sometimes I wish I could stick USB keys in other writers’ brains and download me some smarts.
Demon’s wings are as angel’s wings.
Their halos are as shining bright.
They sing as well as angels, too.
But only when it’s night.
- Calvin Miller
Demonspotting 6: Lucifer
Lucifer is one of the Four Crown Princes of Hell, ruler of the east. His element is air. His name means ‘light-bringer’ and he’s associated with the planet Venus, the morning star.
Or maybe Lucifer is just another name for Satan. Possibly not. It’s hard to tell. And he probably doesn’t care for us to know the truth.
One of Gustave Dore's illustrations for Milton's Paradise Lost
Like the other princes of Hell, he was once an angel, but rebelled against God. Some say it was because he started to question God. Some say it was for pride. Some say it was because God told him to bow down to mankind and Lucifer loved God too much to worship anything but God.
Whatever the reason, he was cast out of Heaven and condemned to Hell. And of course he’s trying to take as many humans as he can with him.
When you conjure him–and I wouldn’t recommend it–he appears in the form of a beautiful child.
In 1954, the Comic Code Authority banned all depictions of vampires, werewolves, ghouls and zombies in comic books. (It also mandated that “In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.”)
So, in order to show mind-controlled Caribbean undead villains, Marvel invented ‘zuvembies.’
Now watch these “reanimated” versions of kitchy Marvel 70s cartoons:
Dictionary of Angels
The Devil: A Visual Guide to the Demonic, Evil, Scurrilous, and Bad (Hardcover)
